Web 2.0, An answer for startup food companies?

Web 2.0 technologies… Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, Del.ic.ious, Stumbledupon, are all proven forces that can drive consumers to purchase from food companies online. It is becoming more apparent to some startup food companies that have embraced this theory, and this channel as a complement to their brick and mortar retail distribution strategies. More and more retailers are reducing shelf space to “the top three best selling brands and of course, the store’s private label. The more obscure, seemingly less exciting, and possibly smaller start-up food companies’ SKUs are getting pushed out the door and into new unchartered territory – the online grocery world,” as it was well stated in a recent article from Phil Lempert: Supermarket Guru.

While selling products online may be more successful for some products than others, some often make the assumption that due to the nature of the their products, they shouldn’t sell online - period. To offer up a rebuttal… One of our previous clients is located in Hawaii and is successfully selling ice cream online, shipping direct to consumers in the lower 48 states. That’s right, I said ice cream, and they’re shipping it to consumers from Hawaii! Thus, when I hear some startup food companies tell me that it doesn’t make sense to sell their products online, I often have to question their scope of experience with the true success of the online retail channel and their data backing up that line of reasoning. While it may not make sense to pursue the online channel as the primary sales channel, it should almost be a requirement for new food companies to strongly consider it as at least a secondary approach to selling their products both direct to consumers and to wholesalers.

Gourmet Business Solutions specializes in online marketing, web 2.0, PR, and e-Commerce development for gourmet and specialty food companies. If your company could benefit from a web 2.0 sales presence, please contact us for more information on how we can help you succeed in this largely underestimated sales channel.